Switzerland to switch off its FM radio stations at the end of 2024

On the 26th of August 2021, the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) said that all FM radio stations will stop transmitting on December 31, 2024. At the end of 2020, they had announced that they hoped to do it earlier and have it completed by January 2023 but this has now been delayed by almost two years to allow consumers more time to change over to the newer digital format.

In December 2017, Norway became the first country to switch off its analogue FM radio stations on 88-108 MHz as they moved to a digital DAB+ system. Switzerland now intends to do likewise.

A 2020 survey by GfK Switzerland showed that use of digital radio has risen by 22% since 2015 while at the same time, FM usage has dropped by 22% to 29 percent. By June 2020, only 13 percent of the Swiss population were using analogue FM radio only.

A survey also found that only 13 percent of the Swiss population listened exclusively to analogue VHF radio in June 2020.

In the car, DAB+ is now the most popular way of receiving radio programs. Radio usage via DAB+ and Internet radio together now make up 55 percent of total usage in the car. All new cars are now sold with DAB+ fitted as standard.

See press release below...

The Swiss radio broadcasters have decided to shutdown as originally planned on December 31, 2024. At this point in time, the VHF radio licenses also expire. From this date onwards, programs can no longer be broadcast via FM. With the return to the original switch-off date, consumers also have more time to switch to technology.

In 2014, the Swiss radio stations agreed to switch off the VHF broadcasting of their programs by 2024 at the latest. Since almost three quarters of radio use was digital at the end of last year, the radio industry came to the conclusion that under these conditions an early and staggered shutdown of the FM stations in August 2022 (SRG) and in January 2023 (private radio) would be responsible. 42 of 44 radio broadcasters and the SRG agreed on this.

In the past few weeks, the VHF switch-off has been discussed publicly. In German-speaking Switzerland and in Italian-speaking Switzerland, the vast majority of radio broadcasters are still in favor of the early shutdown of VHF. In French-speaking Switzerland, however, a sufficient majority could not be found in the concrete implementation. Since a nationwide solution is needed, the radios have therefore returned to their original plan of switching off the FM stations by December 31, 2024. In addition, the latest market figures indicate that listeners need more time for the changeover. With this shift, consumers, including those driving a car, have more time to switch to technology. In Switzerland, the share of DAB + compatible new vehicles has been almost 100 percent since 2020. There is a particular need for retrofitting in older cars that do not have any reception options via DAB + or other digital channels. Corresponding retrofit sets are available on the market in various price ranges. Since 2019, new vehicles from the EU must also be able to receive reception via DAB + as standard in Switzerland.

The radio industry is aware that there is no future for FM after 2024. The existing licenses will expire at the end of 2024. From this point onwards, VHF programs can no longer be broadcast in Switzerland.

By the end of 2024, the framework conditions for DAB + will have improved again. The digitalization of radio use will continue to increase until the switch-off date, there will be even more devices on the market, and the retrofitting of cars will make further progress.

The postponement of the VHF switch-off to the originally planned date of December 31, 2024 is associated with costs in the tens of millions for the radio broadcasters. No radio broadcaster can afford to distribute programs twice over both VHF and DAB + in the long term, and it also makes little sense from an ecological point of view.

Source: Swiss OFCOM office